Charm Me
by Livi11
Summary: Booth gives Brennan a surprising Valentine's gift at a completely unexpected time. Just some fluffy Valentine's Day goodness. BB naturally. Prequel of sorts to The Morning After.


AN: Hey guys... long time no update. guilty grin Actually, this time I really do have a legitimate excuse. I hurt my arm really bad a few months back and haven't been able to use it at all; hence the lack of updates on Grave Secrets. I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can.

Anyway, this is actually I story I had already written before I got hurt, but I forgot to post. So I just altered it a little to make it suitable for Valentines Day, although the "holiday" kind of annoys me. But oh well. Hope you guys enjoy! And don't forget: reviews make me happy, and when I'm happy I write faster:-D You guys are the greatest,

-Livi

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The Hong Kong International Airport was considered by many to be an architectural wonder. Completely engulfing one of the many islands which comprised the incredible city, the airport was completely surrounded by water, offering breathtaking views of Victoria Harbor and the vast city built within the surrounding mountains.

On any other day, Temperance Brennan would have been enthralled with her current location; carefully scrutinizing the mathematical preciseness with which each pane of glass was cut to create the solid glass walls of the immense structure.

Instead, she lay currently stretched across three incredibly uncomfortable terminal seats, her head pillowed on her too-hard backpack.

After arriving from Xi'an nearly three hours earlier, she was now waiting somewhat impatiently for her connecting flight to LA. She'd been in China for nearly five weeks now, having come to help in the identification of several bodies which had been discovered during the excavation of the country's famed Terracotta Warriors.

Now as she laid here in wait of her long journey home, the exhaustion of it all was finally catching up with her. She watched carefully as the afternoon rain streaked down the glass walls, somewhat annoyed. The rain, or rather the Tsunami which was just passing through, was the reason for her delayed flight.

Never in her many years of adventurous travel had she ever been so eager to get home, and the thought terrified her. She was growing roots, attachments, and she didn't like it one bit.

Deciding she couldn't stand the quiet waiting a minute more, she sat up somewhat abruptly and pulled her laptop out of her bag. Bringing up her email, she checked for any new messages, and smiled when she discovered three of interest awaiting her.

The first was the usual long winded note from Angela, filling her in on the happenings back in DC, as well as double checking her arrival time at Dulles.

The second was sent from Hodgins email, although the short note inside was clearly written from Zack. Attached to the email were nearly twenty candid photos. Apparently Hodgins had gotten Angela a fancy new camera for Valentines Day and hadn't quiet mastered the logistics of it yet.

The first few photos were mostly up close shots of the entomologist and the new doctor. An eye here, an ear there: she couldn't help but laugh at their absurdity.

One picture portrayed Angela leaning against the railing of the lab platform and eyeing the camera with an expression mixed with skepticism and suspicion, another was of Zack and Goodman (who had returned from sabbatical in her absence) frowning over a skeleton Brennan didn't recognize.

The last was Booth, grinning smugly for the camera as he sat at her desk, his arms behind his head and his feet propped up on a stack of paperwork awaiting her return.

She was so going to kick his ass when she got home.

Pulling up the last message awaiting her attention, she noted with a small grin that it was from the very man she'd just vowed to inflict injury upon.

Opening it up, she was somewhat surprised by the brevity of the message, but confused more by the words it held:

**_Check the side pocket of your backpack._**

_**-B**_

**_PS: Just go with me here, Bones. _**

She stared at the computer for a few long moments, before turning to the aforementioned backpack with a perplexed expression.

She opened the side compartment carefully, realizing now that she'd never used this particular pocket before, making it the ideal place to hide something of importance. How Booth had known this she had no idea.

Not sure in the least what to expect, she reached her hand in slowly as if expecting something to bite it off. _How illogical_, she scolded herself.

What she did retrieve from the pocket was by far the last thing she'd ever expected, and she felt her breath catch in surprise. It was a long, rectangular Tiffany's box tied with white and pink silk ribbon. She stared at it as if it might be a bomb ready to explode.

What the hell was he _thinking_, getting her something like this? Maybe, she hoped feebly, it was only one of his many practical jokes, and inside laid only a nice pen or a keychain he'd deemed funny. Somehow she doubted it, and the weight of the small box in her palm seemed to prove her right.

She took a shuddery breath as she gently untied the ribbons and pulled open the top, her heart nearly skipping a beat as she took in its contents.

Inside was a sterling silver charm bracelet, laid out delicately on the velvet lining of the box. The intricate silver was so very unlike her usual style, but as she gently pulled it from the box, the metal of the charms clanging together, she realized it was somehow so explicitly, perfectly her.

Yet it was not the beauty of the bracelet, or even the thought of what it must have cost that made her eyes water so uncharacteristically, but rather the very charms themselves.

Carefully lifting the first between her fingers, she smiled softly at the small charm. It was a small bone molded in the delicate metal, how perfectly her, she should have known.

If it had been at any other time, she most certainly would have pointed out the anatomical mistakes of the small trinket, but for once in her life anthropology was seemingly the farthest thing from her mind.

Letting the small charm go, she pulled the second one into her grasp, scrutinizing it with the utmost care. She had to choke back a strangled laugh as she took the small object in. It was a near perfect replica of a standard issue 9 millimeter gun. She felt a tear attempting to escape the confines of her eye and she wiped at it furiously. "_I will not cry_."

Carefully inspecting the next charm, she could no longer hold back a laugh. It was a small, perfectly sculpted car key. Her mind instantly flashed to the millions of arguments they'd had during their partnership over the very issue...

_**"Booth! Will you please, for once, just let me drive the damn car!?"**_

_**"No can do, Bones."**_

_**"Your alpha male tendencies are absolutely incorrigible!"**_

_**"And you wouldn't have it any other way..."**_

A smile gracing her lips, she carefully moved on to the next charm awaiting her vigilant examination. Gazing at it carefully for a long moment she once again felt the tears threatening to make their presence known.

"Jasper," she breathed, as her finger delicately traced the outline of the small pig charm. Of course he would have remembered, Booth _always_ remembered.

The last of the charms had her laughing once more, probably as he'd intended it to be. The charm was comprised of two small chopsticks crossed together, created with such detail that the sides were even adorned with illegible Asian writing, and the words Wong Foos etched beneath.

Her mind was once again inundated with memories, recalling the many times they had shared in the small restaurant. It was there that she'd given him her parents' file, for the first time truly demonstrating how irrefutably she trusted him. It was there that they'd both celebrated and suffered so many of the ups and downs within their partnership.

How he'd managed to do it she had no clue, but somehow Booth had managed to sum up the entirety of their relationship with one simple piece of jewelry.

Along the silver chain there was a small gap before the bracelet ended at the clasp, making it appear as if a few charms had gone missing. But she knew the truth, knew what he was trying to say. He had left it blank with the promise of more to come.

He was promising her the future.

And she'd never been so utterly terrified in all her life.

Resounding warmth suddenly pulsed through her body, almost as in much need reassurance, and she immediately scolded herself for the unreasonable reaction_. "This is ridiculous,"_ she thought sternly, _"this can't seriously be happening."_

Snapping out of her revere, it was then that she abruptly realized that the woman standing at the boarding gate was now calling for her flight to board. Stuffing the last of her things into her bag she shuffled over to wait in the now infinitely long line.

After what seemed like an eternity she finally reached the front of the procession and she sighed a bit in relief. As she held out her ticket to the woman accepting boarding passes, her newly acquired bracelet flashed in the dim light.

The undeniable warmth coursed through her for a second time and she gave a somewhat exasperated sigh as she finally collapsed into her magnificent first class seat.

The fourteen hour flight to Los Angeles alone, gave her more than enough time devise a plan of action.

"_Booth is so utterly and completely in for a serious ass kicking."_

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I suppose that fills my quota of sappy nonsense for the next few months. Sometimes I just have these damn plot bunnies in my head and I can't get them to leave me aloneeee!

I really hoped you guy enjoyed it!

Seriously though... just press the stupid little periwinkle button and drop me a review. It takes you five seconds and it makes my day. ) I love constructive criticism, but flames make me sad.

NOW GO REVEIWWW!


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